My Scary Little World
by Dman94
Summary: This is a story set within my own universe. My universe keeps with all the general themes and characters of Batman, keeping most of their origins and personalities intact, but fusing elements from the comics, tv series' and movies. one major change is the origin of Jonathan Crane AKA The Scarecrow, this stories protagonist.
1. Prologue The Origin of The Scarecrow

The Origin of the Scarecrow

(My Version)

By Dalton Stewart

_12 years ago_

Jonathon Crane sat on his bed, his eyes closed in thought. His hands shook. Could he really follow through with his plan, could he really kill those boys? Sure, he had killed his grandmother when he was ten, but that was years ago, and it had technically been an accident. Jon shuddered, remembering that day.

Jonathon's grandmother had locked him in a barn with hundreds of crows, she had expected them to peck him to death, or at least nearly so. Quite the opposite had happened, however. Even though Jonathon cowered in fear, the crows never attacked, they didn't peck him once. So there he sat in the barn, the crows gathered around him. He talked to them, confided in them about how his grandmother constantly abused him. Jon knew it was crazy, but somehow he thought they actually understood him, actually cared.

Hours later Jonathon's grandmother opened the barn. The moment she did, the crows burst forth from around Jonathon and attacked her. Within moments, she was dead, and Jon was glad. He had hated that old hag.

Jonathon was jolted from his thoughts by a rock hitting his window. He stood, looking down at the street below. There stood three boys. It was them! The assholes that tormented him every day. It was now or never, and Jonathon knew it.

Jonathon pulled the burlap sack over his head and looked in a mirror, he smiled beneath his mask. He was no longer meek, shy Johnny Crane. No, he was The Scarecrow, someone to truly be feared. At least, he was for tonight. He grabbed a sickle from his nightstand and felt the edge to make sure it was still sharp. He was jolted again by another rock hitting his window. He jumped, accidently slicing his fingertip.

"Damn it…" Jon muttered as he grabbed a bandage and put it on his finger.

A little cut wouldn't stop him tonight; it just pissed him off even more. Jonathon opened his window and shouted down at the bullies.

"Come and get me you insignificant worms!" he shouted before slamming the window shut and hiding.

The bullies instantly rushed in and spread out, trying to find where he was hiding. One boy, Alex, ran upstairs; the other two searched the downstairs.

Alex heard a small creaking sound, before hearing a deep, disturbing voice that sounded nothing like the timid little freak they were hunting.

"One two, Scarecrow's coming for you…" The voice whispered in a sing-song tone.

The two boys downstairs heard Alex scream. They ran to the base of the stairs. They got there just in time to see Alex's head bounce down the stairs to meet them.

"Sorry boys…" That strange eerie voice droned on "Time's up!"

The two boys ran up the stairs, scared, but also determined to kick Jon's ass. Alex was their friend, and they wanted revenge. But, scarecrow knew that, in fact, he was counting on it.

They didn't notice the strange gas drifting through the entirety of the upstairs of the house. As they breathed more and more of the gas, the room distorted, growing darker. The Scarecrow walked into the hallway slowly, the boys cowered in fear. His gas was working. He grinned, raising his sickle before bringing it down into Conner's skull. The sickle got stuck in the bone and The Scarecrow had to kick Conner in the back of the head repeatedly to pry it loose, it felt good, this was the revenge he had only dreamed of until now.

"You're the only one left Brad… Time to die." The Scarecrow laughed maniacally.

"Please no!" Brad whimpered, "Please don't kill me! I'll do anything!"

"Oh but Brad, doing anything you wanted to me is what got you here!"

The Scarecrow grabbed Brad by his hair and slit his throat with the sickle.

It was finally done; The Scarecrow slumped to the floor and laughed. He couldn't stop laughing, but soon, his laughter turned into tears. He pulled off his mask, He was no longer The Scarecrow, He was just Jon. Normal, timid, meek Jon, the guy everybody used as a doormat. But, for however short a time; he was The Scarecrow, strong and powerful, and feared. Fear, it was so amazing. The boys who had tormented him for years, in their final moments they had feared him, feared freaky Jonathon Crane. He wanted to know why, he had to know, and that would become his life's work.

In the years that followed, Jonathon Crane was put under heavy psychiatric treatment, but he stuck to his story that it was all in self-defense, no one could prove otherwise, and he was determined to be completely sane. Jon then went on to study psychology in college, becoming one of the most prominent men in the field.

_5 Years ago_

Jonathon sat at his desk in Arkham Asylum, going through his paperwork. There was a knock on his door.

"Come in." Jon said, adjusting his glasses.

Doctor Harleen Quinzel walked into the office. Of all Jonathon's colleagues, she was the only one he truly cared about

"Jon, do you have the report on patient 4479?" She asked, cheerful as ever.

"Uh yeah, I think I have it somewhere around here, why?" Jon replied, unable to stop himself from smiling softly.

"Oh, well, he was recently assigned to me, so I figure I should review his file first."

Jon nodded and started searching through his filing cabinet.

"Ah, here it is," Jon said, pulling out the file and handing it to her "Now, be careful around him Harleen, he's dangerous and unpredictable."

Harleen giggled softly, flipping through the file "Oh relax Jon, how bad can this Joker guy be?"

The months passed, and Harleen slowly found out just how horrible the Joker could be. However, the more horrible the Joker became, the less she cared. She was becoming obsessed with him.

Jon walked to his car in the parking garage. As he did, for the first time in weeks, he saw Harleen.

_What the hell? _Jon thought, _She dyed her hair blond…_

Harleen smiled when she saw Jon.

"Hey Jon!" She yelled, somehow more cheery than ever.

Jon sighed, they had been growing further and further apart since Harleen had started treating patient 4479.

"Uh, hey…" Jon said awkwardly. "What's up?"

"Not much, just mountains of paperwork as usual."

"Oh, well things have been great with Mr. J. Um… I mean patient 4479."

"That's good. Um… I know this is kind of sudden, but would you perhaps like to have dinner with me Harleen...?" Jon bit his lip.

Harleen blushed a bit.

"Jon…" Harleen sighed "You're a really sweet guy, but no, you're more like an older brother to me they boyfriend material."

"So… no?"

Jon's eyes narrowed. His mental stability had been hanging on the edge ever since that day with the bullies, and this was the final straw. The person he cared about most, the only woman he had ever had feelings for, had rejected him. With that last bit of humanity ripped away from him, he became cold, distant.

He nodded.

"Ok Harleen…" He said calmly "See you later then."

He drove out of the parking garage and to his home. Jon had thought the Scarecrow was gone, but it wasn't, it dug at the back of his mind. He wanted that power again, he wanted people to fear him, and soon they would.

Jon became a recluse, going to work in the morning and coming straight home afterwards. Reports of Arkham inmates experiencing crippling fear surfaced more and more frequently, but the guards were quick to warn the prisoners that these were just rumors.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: This will hopefully be an ongoing story, set in my own universe, using my own version of the Batman mythos. I took inspiration from the comics, Batman: The Animated Series, and the Nolanverse mostly. This is a Jonathon Crane (Scarecrow) x Harleen Quinnzel (Harley Quinn) story, but major elements of that won't come until MUCH further down the road. At this point in the story Jon is 29, Harleen is 24, and Joker is somewhere in his early 40's.**_

Jon sat at his desk in Arkham, as he did most of the time these days. Ever since Harleen had rejected him, his life had spiraled downhill. He had once again taken on the mantle of the Scarecrow, with the pure and simple desire to strike fear into the hearts of those that had wronged him. He could never bring himself to strike at Harleen though; he still cared very deeply for her.

Jon had been perfecting his fear toxins, making them more potent, and able to be dispersed in multiple ways. Tucked into the sleeve of his suit was a small vial of his toxin, it was time to test it again. But who would be his test subject? It had to be someone relatively stable, so that left out most of the patients in Arkham, including the one person he really wanted revenge on. It wouldn't affect Poison Ivy, and she had always been rather kind to him anyways. In truth, Jon had secretly become friends with a number of Arkham inmates, Jervis Tetch, Poison Ivy, and Edward Nygma mainly.

The simple problem was: Jon was running out of interesting test subjects.

"Perhaps I could…" Jon started "No, he was transferred weeks ago…"

The Scarecrows voice whispered at the back of his mind. _"Just used Harleen…"_

"No! I told you, if you try to make me hurt her, I'll kill us both."

"_Relax Jon, I was only joking… Perhaps use the man who stole her from us?"_

"The Joker? But… he's one of the most insane inmates here… there's no telling what would happen, it could be complete madness…"

"_You're trying to talk yourself out of it, but you forget, I'm you, I know you want to do it, and to hell with the consequences. So just do it. It that man has one thing right, it's that a little chaos is good sometimes."_

"Perhaps you're right… but Harleen is his doctor, she would know something is up…"

"_Who cares? She'll never know it's us. She doesn't know that her friend Jonny is the Scarecrow."_

"True, but… She cares for that madman… "

"_So what? Damn it Jon, you want this. I know you do!"_

"Fine… You're right."

"_When have I ever been wrong?"_

"Oh shut up…"

Jon stood and walked out of his office. He was going to do it; he was going to test his fear toxin on a true madman, prisoner 4479, the Joker. Jon walked to the main elevator. He stepped inside and went down, down into the deep, dark bowels of Arkham Asylum, to meet his prey.

Jon knew that this would be dangerous. The Joker had escaped three times in the five years he had been In Arkham. Two of those times had resulted in the deaths of several guards, and on one occasion, a doctor. Jon was no fool, however, he would be careful. As the elevator continued down, Jon heard laughing, a maniacal laugher that shook him to his very core, but he wasn't scared. Nothing had scared him in a long time.

The elevator doors opened and Jon stepped out. There was only one prisoner on this floor, because the Joker hated company. The Joker was not someone you wanted to anger. The one person the Joker didn't mind, though, was Harleen Quinnzel. Harleen loved spending time with 4479. Jon, on the other hand, had avoided the man like the plague.

Jon walked toward the Jokers cell, the vial still in his sleeve. Two guards stood outside the cell.

"You know," The Joker said, "Have you boys ever heard the one about the guards and the Clown?"

"Shut up clown." One of the guards replied, "We aren't going to talk to you."

"Well be that as it may, I can talk all I want."

Jon watched as the Joker spoke. The Clown was in a straightjacket, sitting in a chair in his cell. The Joker noticed him.

"You must be Jonny!" Joker said enthusiastically.

"How do you know my name?" Jon replied.

The guards watched the scene, confused.

The Joker laughed "I'll tell you once these goons are gone."

Jon nodded and motioned for the guards to leave.

"Are you sure Doctor Crane?" One of the guards asked.

"I'm sure." Jon stated. "I'll be fine."

The guards nodded and left. Jon was alone with the Clown Prince of Gotham. Revenge would be sweet.

"Now," Jon said "how do you know my name Clown?"

The Joker laughed more "My Harley girl talks about you all the time Jonny!"

"Harley girl?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, you probably know her better as Harleen Quinnzel. I personally think her new name is better. It suits her more, you know? Plus it rolls of the tongue easier than Harleen Quinnzel. Ugh, such an ugly name, Harley Quinn is much better, don't you think?"

"No, I don't." Jon sighed "I liked her real name much better."

"Well honestly Jonny boy I don't give a shit about your opinion. Now, why are you here to see me? It's not my treatment day; otherwise Harley would be here by now."

"I'm here for a… special treatment"

The Joker stared at him.

"A special treatment? I love special treatments!" The Joker cackled.

"Good." Jon smiled softly. "Then take this."

Jon held out the vial of fear toxin to the Joker, opening it. The Joker watched him and grabbed the open end of the vial with his teeth before violently turning his head to the side, flinging the vial against the wall.

"Do you think I'm fucking stupid Jonny?" The Joker glared at him, his voice deathly serious. "I've heard the reports, the guards don't even bother lying about it to me, the prisoners found in states of immobilizing fear, some literally scared to death. I know it was you Jonny, and I know that the vial you wanted me to take was probably filled with whatever chemicals are causing the fear and panic attacks."

"W-what? But how…?" Jon stammered.

"Simple really, with everything that My Harley girl has been telling me about you, it was easy to figure it out. You see, I'm a regular Sherlock Holmes type. And I'm a hell of a lot more sane than people give me credit for Jonny boy."

The Joker started laughing, a booming, chilling laughter that shook Jon to his core once again. Without another word Jon stood and left the cell, motioning for the guards to come back.

The Scarecrows voice echoed in his mind _"We failed Jon, he's smarter than we expected…"_

"Shut up!" Jon yelled, he was shaking with frustration and anger, and maybe a little fear.

"Doctor Crane?" One of the Guards asked, startled.

"Not you!" Jon yelled back at him, still walking.

Jon didn't stop walking until he was in the elevator and the doors were closed.

"Damn it!" Jon growled, punching the wall of the elevator, then immediately regretting it.

Jon shook his now throbbing hand.

"The fucker knows… he knows its me."

"_We have to kill him Jon…"_ The Scarecrow whispered in his mind.

"But how? We need a new plan…"

The elevator doors opened and Harleen walked in.

"Hey Jonny." She said, smiling.

"Um, hello Harleen…" Jon stammered.

"I'm headed down to see Mr. J. Where are you headed?"

"Oh uh… It's been a long day, I'm going back to my office… and… Mr. J?"

"Yeah!" Harleen beamed "The Joker, 4479, whatever you wanna call him. But he likes it when I call him Mr. J."

"Oh uh… I see, alright then."

Jon stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his office. Jon didn't know how, he didn't know when, but one thing was for certain, he was going to kill 4479.


	3. Chapter 2

Jon sat at home, trying to think of how he could kill the Joker. He had been on edge since the night they had met. How did he know Jon was the one who was causing the fear attacks? It made no sense, the man was insane, and yet somehow he had incredible deductive reasoning. The Scarecrow had been clawing at the back of Jon's mind a lot more than usual lately, urging him on to create panic, instill fear. Lately the Scarecrow had been wanting more though, it had wanted to kill. Not just the Joker, but anyone. Random pedestrians in the street, a man who had cut Jon off in traffic, anyone…

Jon took a drink of his vodka and closed his eyes. He needed a kill, and he needed one now. Jon stood up and grabbed his mask, it was just a simple burlap sack he had made some adjustments to, but it worked well enough. Jon grabbed his sickle and a canister of his fear toxin distilled into gas form. He was ready.

Jon slid the mask over his head and looked in a mirror, making sure that he looked sufficiently menacing. Once Jon was satisfied he walked out his front door and looked around.

Who would be an easy kill? The whore walking down the street? The bum sitting against a dumpster in the alley? Yes, he would do nicely. No one would miss him; no one would even realize he was gone.

Jon walked towards the man slowly, sickle in one hand, his canister of fear gas in the other. Without warning Jon sprayed the gas in the man's face. Within moments, the man was screaming about spiders.

"Huh," Jon said "Such a small fear for someone who's fallen so low."

Jon grabbed the man by his long, scraggly hair and held him up, exposing his throat. Jon swung his sickle right into the man's neck, effectively beheading him. He tossed the man's body in the dumpster and laughed. Jon laughed more than he had in months. He had killed again, for the first time in years, and it felt damn good.

Jon wiped off his sickle with the bum's shirt before closing the dumpster. Jon smiled as he walked back home, his work here was done, and he had sated the beast inside. Jon walked into his apartment and locked the door; he smiled as he pulled his mask off.

Jon was happy for the first time in months, he felt normal again. Jon walked over to the bottle of vodka he had still sitting on his coffee table and opened it, taking a big drink. It was finally time for him to start being a winner instead of a loser.

Jon walked into Arkham Asylum confidently; today was going to be fun. Jon took the elevator up to his office. He went inside and opened his file cabinet; he flipped through the files inside. He pulled one of the files out

"Hmm…" he muttered. "Victor Zsasz… I might kill you today…"

Jon opened the file and flipped through it. Victor Zsasz was a vile man, no one would miss him, which was exactly why Jon declared him insane and got him transferred from Blackgate to Arkham. Jon read over Zsasz's file to refresh his memory on the psychopath.

"What do you fear Victor…?" Jon wondered out loud. "You prey on young women and children mostly… You usually avoid conflict with any real opponent that could truly defeat you…"

Jon stood and grabbed his mask, stuffing it into his brief case with a canister of his fear toxin. He stood and walked back out to the elevator, riding it down to the floor Zsasz was on.

Jon stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall, past numerous cells filled with all sorts of psychopaths, from the man who mutilated children with cookie cutters, to the woman that thought it was a good idea to murder her entire family and blame the cat. Jon hated them all. Well, that wasn't entirely true, there were some "residents" at Arkham that Jon was fond of, but not on this floor. This floor was reserved for some of the worst scum that called Arkham home. He was going to enjoy his "housekeeping" today.

Jon walked to the end of the hall, to Victor Zsasz's cell. The man was standing in the cell, his arms and hands kept immobile by strong metal bars attached to a collar that was put on him. One guard stood watch at this end of the hall.

"Hello Pete." Jon said "I'm here to do some therapy with Mr. Zsasz. I'll need you to leave for confidentiality, I'm sure you understand."

"But Doctor Crane-" Pete started.

"I'll be fine Pete, I assure you."

Pete nodded and slowly walked away.

Jon smiled and unlocked the cell with his employee badge before stepping inside.

"Hello Victor, It's nice to see you again." Jon said in a soft, calm voice.

Zsasz only grunted in response and spit at Jon.

"Charming…" Jon muttered.

Zsasz just glared at him.

"You do realize I'm only here to help you, right Victor? I'm you friend here, perhaps the only one you've got."

"Don't need friends, don't want friends…" Zsasz said softly.

"Ahh, so you can still talk. Splendid, I was beginning to think you had lost the ability to do so." Jon replied.

Zsasz tried to lunge at Jon, but his restraints held him back.

"Lunging at me won't help you at all Victor. Come on, let's just talk, I want to see if I can help you become a normal, upstanding human being again."

Zsasz just laughed.

"There's no such thing as normal doc." He said.

"Well, that may be true Victor, but all the same, we can try to eliminate these urges to kill. Wouldn't you like to be able to be out on the streets again?"

Zsasz chuckled again. "No, this is who I am now. I don't kill because I have to. I _enjoy_ it"

That was the final straw; Jon was definitely going to kill this man. Jon opened his briefcase and pulled out his mask and his container of fear gas. Zsasz watched him curiously. Jon sprayed a large amount of his gas in Zsasz's face, pulling his mask on soon afterwards. Zsasz's world started spinning, his vision becoming hazy as his worst fears became a reality for him.

"Do you like my mask Victor? I don't expect you to understand the intricacies of fear, but I'll do my best to explain it. Fear is a blunt weapon, a club, if you will. It's very clumsy and difficult to control. But, given the right amount of sharpening and the skill of its wielder, fear can be the sharpest of knives. Better still, in the hands of a true master, fear is more than a weapon; it's a tool. Fear can be used to control, to influence. Fear creates armies; it both builds, and destroys nations. Fear is the one, single constant in our lives. Don't you understand Zsasz? Fear is everything!" Jon smiled, watching Zsasz as he calmly delivered his speech.

Scarecrow laughed, long and loud, an evil cackle that shook Zsasz to his core. Zsasz started to scream and struggle in his bonds to no avail, and Scarecrow just kept laughing.

Soon, however, Scarecrow knew something was wrong, his world started spinning and he fell to his knees, shaking violently.

"G-Grandmother no… Please…" Jon whimpered softly.

The Alarm sounded loudly, and as Jon's world faded to black, in the back of his mind, he knew it was over. The guards would be coming soon, they would see him there, and he would be locked up in a cell with all the other loonies in Arkham, even his friend Jeremiah wouldn't be able to help him.


	4. Chapter 3

Jon woke up in a cramped closet, Pete standing over him.

"Shit," Jon muttered before looking around "Pete, why are you here, and why the ever loving fuck am I in the janitor's closet?"

"W-well Doctor Crane, I found you on the floor of Mr. Zsasz's cell, curled up and muttering about your grandmother… You were wearing a weird mask and Mr. Zsasz was struggling hard against his shackles… I dragged you into this closet so the other guards wouldn't see you… "

"You… saved me… why?"

"Because Doctor Crane… Everyone here treats me like shit, they call me a moron, an idiot, but you've always believed in me. I started taking night classes in criminal psychology… I've learnt a lot and-"

They heard a scream.

"What was that?" Jon asked.

Pete stammered, "Mr. Z-Zsasz escaped… He k-killed three guards… He's rampaging through the asylum…"

"Hand me your gun Peter." Jon said calmly.

Pete nodded and handed Jon his handgun.

"Thank you." Jon said, standing and opening the closet door.

The screams outside in the hall could be heard quite clearly now, Jon smiled and readied the gun. True, Jon hadn't shot a gun more than a few times, but he was determined to kill Zsasz, and this was the only weapon he had at the moment.

Jon stalked towards where the screams were coming from. As he did, he saw Zsasz, holding a guard by the throat and stabbing him repeatedly in the stomach. Jon wanted to feel sympathy for the man, for his family, but he couldn't. The look of fear in the man's eyes, it was amazing. Zsasz was using fear, true, it was more in the sense of a blunt weapon than the sharp tool Jon used it as, but Zsasz was using it, and it was beautiful to behold. Jon glared at Zsasz.

"Hello Victor." Jon said calmly. "This is definitely a road bump in your treatment, you seem to have relapsed. I must congratulate you, however, on stepping up to larger game. Bravo."

Zsasz growled and dropped the dying guard before running at Jon. Jon smiled and aimed the gun at Zsasz. He started firing it repeatedly, hitting Zsasz a few times, but no killing blow. Jon had emptied the gun and he tossed it aside. Zsasz just kept running before the loud sound of a shotgun rang through the hall and he fell forward.

Standing several feet behind Zsasz was Jon's good friend and boss, Jeremiah Arkham, holding a pump action shotgun, its barrels still smoking. Jon had never been so happy to see his friend. Jon decided to play the scared doctor, instead of the empowered creature he felt like right now.

"O-oh thank God you're h-here Jeremiah… I w-walked to Zsasz's cell f-for our session today a-and he escaped… knocked me out… w-when I came to, he was on his rampage…"

Jeremiah stared at him.

"Cut the bullshit Jon, Victor Zsasz was being recorded 24/7. I saw what you did to him." Jeremiah said, sighing.

"B-but…" Now Jon was genuinely worried.

"Jon, I can erase those tapes, but why should I?"

"B-because Jeremiah… does our friendship mean so little to you that you would let me be put in here with all the psychopaths, just because I wanted to kill one of the most vial men on the face of the planet…?"

Jeremiah sighed, he knew Jon was right.

"Fine…" Jeremiah replied, "I'll erase the tapes, but you can't keep doing this Jon. You have to stop."

"Jeremiah… I can't stop… "

"I'll help you Jon… we're gonna fix this."

Jon nodded and stood up, brushing himself off. Jeremiah radioed for some guards to clean up the mess before walking away. Pete walked out to Jon and watched Jeremiah go. Jon handed Pete his gun and started walking away.

"W-where are you going Doctor Crane…?" Pete asked.

"Need to speak with someone." Jon replied still walking.

Jon rode the elevator down, toward the Jokers floor. As much as he hated the man, Jon knew that the Joker was one of the most evil people here, and maybe he could help.

Jon walked out of the elevator and onto the Joker's floor. He walked confidently to the madman's cell, not knowing what to expect. When he got there, Jon was shocked. The Joker was sitting calmly in his cell, still wearing his straightjacket. Jon cleared his throat.

"Hello, Mr. Joker." Jon said calmly.

"Hiya Jonny boy!" The Joker replied enthusiastically.

"Normally, given any other choice, I wouldn't come down here, but I would… like to ask you for your help."

"My help?" The Joker started laughing. "Jonny boy you're the doctor, you're the one who's supposed to help cure me of my insanity!"

"That may be true, but certain… new developments, have made me question myself, and what I do. You're evil Joker, and you can help me… teach me how to be evil too."


End file.
